Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - Mindfulness in the Body | Bonus Meditation with Sebene Selassie

Episode Date: March 26, 2021

Is your mind racing to the past or future? Practice bringing awareness to the body and breath as a way to reconnect to the present. About Sebene Selassie: Growing up, Sebene felt like a big weirdo. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised in white neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., she was a tomboy Black girl who loved Monty Python and UB40. She never believed she belonged. Thirty years ago, she began studying Buddhism as an undergraduate at McGill University where she majored in Comparative Religious Studies. Now, Sebene is a teacher, author, and speaker who teaches that meditation can help us remember our inherent sense of belonging, that our individual freedom affects absolutely everyone and everything, and that our collective freedom depends on each and every one of us. Sebene is a three-time cancer survivor of Stage III and IV cancer. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Where did memes come from? And where's Tom from MySpace? Listen to Baby, this is Kiki Palmer on Amazon music or wherever you get your podcast. From ABC, this is the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hey gang, it's Friday. So we're here with another guided meditation from the 10% happier app. Today's session is from a regular on this show, a favorite on this show, Seven A. Salassi. You might have noticed that occasionally your mind wanders, it races to the past or to the future. The practice of bringing your awareness to your breath or your body can be super helpful in terms of reconnecting you to what's happening right now.

And in this meditation, 7a is going to show us how to actually do that. Hi, this is 7a. And in this meditation, we're going to practice bringing awareness to the body. Simply put, mindfulness is paying attention on purpose in the present moment non-judgmentally. But as you've probably noticed, our minds can relentlessly pull us into the past or future. This is where the body can help. The body is always in the present moment. That's why the breath and the body are used as primary objects of meditation, which makes it the perfect training ground for our mindfulness

practice. Okay, let's get started. Find a comfortable position where you feel alert but also relaxed. If you're comfortable closing your eyes, you can do so now. And if you want to keep them open, just keep a soft focus on one point. Let's start by bringing awareness to the sensation of sitting here. For me, it used to be when someone asked me to notice my body. I would have a hard time knowing if I was feeling my sensations or just thinking about them. This can take some practice. So when I say bring awareness to the sensation of sitting here, what do you notice?

Is there a particular sensation that's strong or clamoring for attention? Maybe there's a familiar ache or discomfort? Maybe you don't notice anything at all. If so, can you bring a little more awareness to your experience? See if you can bring a sense of curiosity to it. You can even ask yourself, what's happening in my body right now. Maybe you can notice the pressure of your butt against the chair. Or maybe you can feel a gentle tickle where the air is entering or leaving your nostrils. Perhaps there is sensation of temperature or vibration. Whatever is happening, see if you can continue to be curious. Continuing the inquiry, and what's happening in my body right now. You don't need to choose or reject any particular experience. comments. When you're ready, you can open your eyes or reorient to the room. In any moment, if we feel caught up in our minds, racing to the past or future, we can always

bring awareness to the body as a way to reconnect to this very moment. I hope you enjoyed this meditation. Thanks so much. Thank you, 7A. You can find many more meditations from 7A, including longer versions of this one. On our 10% happier app, our app helps you understand both how to practice meditation and how to use it to help you navigate our ever-changing world. To make it easier to become an app subscriber, we're offering

40% off the price of an annual subscription. Just for our podcast listeners, we don't do discounts of this size all the time. And of course nothing is permanent. So to get this deal before it ends on April 1st, go to 10% dot com slash march. That's 10% one word all spelled out dot com slash march for 40% off. We'll see you back here on Monday for a brand new episode with the happiness researcher Emma Sepola. She's going to share three secrets from happiness research. Hey, hey prime members, you can listen to 10% happier early and add free on Amazon music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with 1-replus in Apple podcasts. Or, you can listen early and add free with 1-3-plus in Apple podcasts. Before you go, do us a solid and tell us all about yourself by completing a short survey

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